To enable the efficient elimination or controlling of unwanted plants in agriculture and related endeavors, it is desirable to use effective chemical herbicides on these unwanted plants. Compositions containing multiple herbicides are desirable in agricultural and related endeavors due to broadening the spectrum or range of unwanted plant species killed or controlled and varying the onset of visual symptomology.
Due to the desirability of having a composition with the above mentioned properties, the combination of a triazolinone herbicide and glyphosate salt has been disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,905, U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,958, U.S. Pat. No. 6,127,318, PCT Publication WO 00/78139, PCT Publication WO 02/063955 and PCT Publication WO 01/70024. The combination of a triazolinone herbicide and glyphosate salt has been thought to exhibit a herbicidal effect against a very broad spectrum of unwanted plant species and a triazolinone herbicide is known to have fast onset of herbicidal activity as seen from visual symptomology, while glyphosate salt is considered to be slower with onset occurring just after typical triazolinone herbicides. This has the potential to be a very effective combination. However, a problem in the art of formulating the triazolinone herbicide and glyphosate salt mixture is in successfully achieving both chemical and physical stability in the composition over significant periods of time.
In general, a relatively small amount of the triazolinone herbicide has been used in conjunction with glyphosate. Chemical stability is most important in this type of composition to ensure the small amount of the triazolinone herbicide is fully effective. Typically, less than one percent is used commercially to keep the cost of the composition low, while still yielding spectrum and onset of visual symptomology benefits. Examples of problematic chemical degradation include hydrolysis, oxidation, dehalogenation and bond cleavage. The chemical and physical stability of a glyphosate and triazolinone herbicide composition is a key objective in the art.